The current economic and political situation puts a lot of financial pressure on companies. Ways to save resources in production processes becomes increasingly interesting for companies in the manufacturing industry including those who use waterjet cutting technology. This article builds the starting point in a series of articles all surrounding the topic of resource consumption and resource saving. Are you interested in learning how to save resources in your waterjet-facilitated manufacturing? Then keep on reading.
Recent data on resource consumption
Especially when being new to waterjet cutting or new to the question on how to save resources it can be hard to find a starting point for your research. But no worries, in the following chapters we will explore this topic together.
Resource consumption in waterjet cutting processes concentrates around the following six major resources used:
- Energy
- Water
- Abrasive
- Time
- Cutting Material
- Spare Parts
The consumption of these resources is significantly influenced by the technology used, the softwaresettings taken and the local costs for electricity and water. We can influence the first two of these factors through our choices. For example, let us look at what influence pump technology can have.
As the graphic shows the choice of pump technology for waterjet systems can have a big influence on energy consumption. Modern pump technology, for example servo technology, shows a significantly higher efficiency which leads to significant energy savings. This is due to the servo pump being only active when the cutting head is actively cutting.
But of course, since there are six resources involved in waterjet cutting there are more opportunities to optimize.
Since the consumption of the different resources is influenced by different factors there are different ways on how save resources.
Ways on how to save resources in waterjet-facilitated production
As mentioned above we can influence the technology used and the settings for machines and software. How these factors are connected exactly to the different resource consumptions shows the following table:
| Influence factors | Technology aspect | Influenced resource |
| Machine technology and software | Nesting-Software for efficient placing and cutting of parts on the material plate. | Amount of wasted cutting material is reduced and efficiency of used cutting material is increased. |
| Cutting head control which prevents cutting when abrasive flow is interrupted | Amount of wasted cutting material is reduced and less spare parts are needed. Increased productivity and less standstill time for maintenance. | |
| Safety gates and light curtains for protection of personnel and equipment | Personnel and process safety is increased, less noise development and cleaner work environment are ensured. | |
| Abrasive grinding process combined with cold water cutting technique | Flexibility in chosen cutting material is increased. | |
| Pump technology | Direct drive servo technology with compact, efficient, and reliable linear servo actuators | Amount of needed water is reduced. |
| Amount of needed energy is reduced. | ||
| Predictive Maintenance functionality with remote access to machine | Amount of needed spare parts is reduced and process safety is increased. Diagnosis is sped up. | |
| 6000 bar pressure range | Needed time for cutting process is reduced. | |
| Innovative sealing technology | Time for maintenance procedures is reduced. | |
| Chiller technology | Closed-loop cooling cycle | Amount of needed water is reduced. Up to 0% of extra water is needed once the closed-loop cooling cycle is set up |
| Water treatment technology | Desludging while cutting. | Time for desludging the machine is reduced through avoiding of production stop for maintenance. No standstill times for desludging the water tank of the machine. |
| Cutting water purification (Removal of substances and chemicals which could wear our spare parts faster) | Amount of needed spare parts is reduced through increased lifespan of products. | |
| Wastewater filtering before the wastewater enters the sewage pipe. Removing sand and particles from the cutting material from the waster water prevents sewage pipes from clogging. | Time for maintenance of wastewater pipes is reduced through avoiding a clogging of pipes. No time needed for declogging the sewage pipes. |
As the table shows there are many different strategies on how to save resources in waterjet cutting, and technology has a huge influence in it.
The role of technology in saving resources
Choosing products with new visionary technology will save you money in the long run.
No matter if you aim for a reduction of energy and water consumption or spending less money on spare parts or less maintenance time, visionary technology will be your safest bet to do so.
In our upcoming articles we will cover the different mentioned saving strategies. Stay tuned to learn more.
How you can see waterjet cutting technology of the future in action?
On our Open House events you can have a first-hand glance at our waterjet cutting systems in action and ask our specialists any questions that might arise regarding our technology.
If you face a particular challenge with your application and want to know if waterjet cutting technology can be a suitable solution, you can also book a test cut on our machines and/ or a machine demonstration. Get in contact with us to learn more.
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